And you’re questioning the science
And questioning religion
You’re looking like an idiot
And you no longer care
You’re looking like an idiot
And you no longer care
-REM
I finally saw my first baobab tree today (check out the internet-procured photo above). That’s kind of like being in America for two weeks and never seeing a McDonald’s- I’m shocked that it took me so long! Unless Le Petit Prince is literary gold to you, many of you probably hadn’t heard of this tree until now, thus I’ll continue to write my entries under the assumption that you don’t know much about Senegal. The baobab tree has so many life-giving properties (food, water, shelter, burial) that it’s hard to really give you an encapsulated overview of the tree. I’m also too lazy to do it, so let’s just say that it is highly associated with these parts.
For those of you who do know a good deal about West Africa, let me take this moment to apologize in advance for my watered-down Sesame Street-level descriptions of what I understand as Senegalese culture.
Okay, with that out of the way, I will tell you about my second big step (almost literally) into Senegalese culture today. I took it upon myself to walk home from “work” today (really, there is no work involved, but you know what I mean). Anyways, I left at about 1:50pm. Today is a Friday. Neither of these details factored into my route or time of departure, and I marched in a direction towards home that nearly bypasses a mosque.
Some of you know where I am going with this.
Again, this came from the internet. I’m not keen on snapping photos of people in mid-prayer.
Have you ever seen a human barricade blocking roads and sidewalks? I hadn’t until today. To be fair, it was not a barricade at all (except for the fact that I had to turn around and double back after realizing my toubab folly). Friday is the holiest day for Muslims, and the 2pm prayer is a big event. I already knew this, but didn’t really think about it as I passively watched most of Dakar stream towards the mosque’s environs with their prayer mats. The people lining the side of the road and conducting their pre-prayer ablutions? I didn’t think about them either. Not of course until I skidded to a stop at the many rows of faithful who were stretching across the city street doing something as natural as breathing. Only then did I put the entire picture together and try to circle back as nonchalantly as possible.
I know, you are once again impressed with my intelligence gather skills…
Anyways, the baobab was neat to finally see in the flesh, but it was even more moving to see the preponderance of an entire city population come to a screeching halt in order to make time for something higher than commerce. I know that I’ll be writing more about this, but between these two sightings that I experienced, it is more than apparent that I need to get out more.